Donald James Bonner

Donald James Bonner
December 21, 1926 - May 19, 2026

Don Bonner, 99, passed away May 19, 2026, at his home in Prairie Village, KS. He was a great husband, father, and grandfather. He was a pilot, aeronautical engineer, businessman, inventor, tinkerer, writer, poet, patriot, and scholar. His zeal for aviation began when he was five years old and remained a consuming passion his entire life.

He was born on December 21, 1926, to David and Belle Bonner in Fairfax, OK. In 1933, Don’s family moved to Amazonia, MO, and opened Bonner Grocery. Throughout his childhood and teenage years, Don worked in the grocery store as a clerk, truck driver, delivery man, and inventory control manager. His dad trained him to be a store manager. He learned how to balance business responsibilities with serving his community during the Great Depression by bartering with local citizens who could trade eggs from their chickens for groceries but didn’t have cash to purchase food at Bonner Grocery.

He and his high school sweetheart, Margie Steeby, attended Savannah High School and graduated in 1944. Don went off to Parks Air College to pursue a career in aviation, but after two semesters, he was called up to serve in the Army at the end of World War II. He reported to Fort Leavenworth, where he was designated a tank driver trainer. He had been driving tractors and trucks for many years, long before he was old enough to be licensed. He said he was amazed that “they gave me my own tank!” He eventually was transferred to Fort Knox, KY, where he was promoted to staff sergeant and enjoyed training new recruits as a drill sergeant in basic training. He was chagrined that his Army service was so much fun when other friends had lost their lives and his cousin had gone down with his ship in the Pacific in the battle of Guadalcanal. Consequently, he barely ever would speak of his Army service until his last years, after his grandson entered the Army.

Having kept up his correspondence with Margie during his Army service, he returned home to northwest Missouri and he and Margie were married May 23, 1948. They rented a “3-room farm house with a path” where they briefly farmed before deciding they needed city jobs to support the children they hoped to have. They moved to St. Joseph and Don held various business positions at Shamrad Boiler Co., St. Joseph Oxygen Co., Seaman & Schuske Metal Works Co., the St. Joseph News Press & Gazette, and the Journal of Livestock & Agriculture (Stockyards Journal). He later worked at Armour & Co., Carnation Can Co., & retired from Silgan Containers. He owned a Mobil Oil service station for a few years in the 1970’s, as well.

Don and Margie had very active family lives and loved hosting and attending extended family dinners and holiday celebrations. Don was known for his creative fireworks explosions on the Fourth of July. The Bonners were blessed with two children, J Kirk Bonner and Karen Bonner Gallagher. It was a major blow when Kirk died of lung cancer in 1999.

Don studied extensively in math and the sciences and enjoyed designing and inventing airplanes. He designed a roadable, amphibious aircraft using elements of racing boats and Custer Channel Wing aircraft. He did four concept studies of small aircraft including a Volkswagen-powered three-place flying boat. He proposed a redesigned air traffic control system in the 1960’s and 70’s. He also designed in other fields, including a high speed rotary three-cylinder steam engine with a flameless combustion steam generator. As an avid outdoorsman, he loved camping and retrofitted his family’s Volkswagen camper with progressively sophisticated chalets that he designed and built. This invention attached to the top of the vehicle and was opened at night as sleeping quarters and collapsed flat on the roof during the day for travel.

The state of his tools was indicative of his crafty and organized nature. If something was broken, he had the right tools to fix it, knew how to fix it, and did. But the job was never over until he had cleaned the tools and put them back exactly where they came from so he would always be ready to fix the next thing.

Don started flying lessons in 1963 and passed his private pilot flight test in 1965. He took his mother and daughter up for their first rides in 1966. He spent many hours flying out of Rosecrans Airport in St. Joseph and organizing the Rosecrans Air Show, but also was quite happy just to walk around the hangars talking to the mechanics, pilots, and aircraft owners on the weekends. He thoroughly enjoyed membership in the Experimental Aircraft Association and attended their giant annual fly-in in Oshkosh, WI, 17 times, where he was thrilled to explore ideas and designs with pilots and aviation professionals. He loved hosting his daughter at Oshkosh, walking her through the field of 10,000 airplanes, and introducing her to some of his great aviation heroes in attendance that year.

In their late 50’s, Don and Margie started running in 5K races in St.Joseph and both brought home many first place medals before deciding their knees had had enough. In retirement, the Bonners took many driving vacations all over America but they particularly loved staying at the Lake of the Ozarks. They were regular attendees at music festivals all over the country, especially the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival in Sedalia, MO, and the New Orleans Jazz Festival. They became personal friends with some of the musicians.

Don studied and taught himself computer languages and coding as the industry was evolving in the 1980’s and 1990’s. He ventured into social media in his 90’s and enjoyed posting on Facebook.

He also studied religion and the great questions of human existence and Creation. He wrote many treatises exploring and confirming his Christian faith.

After their twin grandsons, Ben and Ted Gallagher, were born, Don and Margie dedicated as much of their time as possible to attending the boys’ sporting events, music concerts, and church activities. They moved to Prairie Village, KS, to be near their daughter and her family in 2006, and never missed a holiday or celebration with their family. Attending their children’s college graduations, their grandsons’ college graduations in 2017, and Ted’s graduation from the US Army’s Ranger School in 2018 were highlights of their lives. Don was hailed as a corn hole champion when he and his future daughter-in-law beat a team of exhausted recent Ranger School graduates. He was very gratified by Ben’s business, creative, and tech successes and saw them as extensions of his own interests and pursuits.

After their 74th wedding anniversary in 2022, Margie passed away at the age of 95. In the following years, Don enjoyed continuing his conversations about aviation and inventions with new friends at Meadowbrook Senior Living in Prairie Village. He counted many of the caregivers there as friends, as well. He was an active participant in the writing club and the photography club.

Don was preceded in death by his parents, his wife, and his son. He is survived by his daughter, Karen Gallagher, and his grandsons Ben Gallagher (Ashleigh) and Captain Ted Gallagher (Elizabeth), and extended family.

A reception will be held in Don’s honor at 12:00 p.m. at Country Club Christian Church, 6101 Ward Parkway, Kansas City, MO on Tuesday, May 26, and the funeral service will follow at 1:00 p.m. Brief graveside services will follow at Savannah Cemetery, 308 West Benton Street, Savannah, MO. Memorial contributions in Don’s name may be made to Country Club Christian Church.